


Introductions

by Sismyn



Series: Michael's Bodyguard [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Gen, Prequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22074745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sismyn/pseuds/Sismyn
Summary: First meeting shenanigans
Relationships: Michael Guerin & Alex Manes
Series: Michael's Bodyguard [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551736
Comments: 25
Kudos: 81





	Introductions

He wasn't even all the way down the hall, and he was staring. He was _obviously_ staring, but the man hadn't seen him yet since he was on his phone. At least Michael's mouth wasn't hanging open. (He tapped on his chin to make sure.) 

His prospective bodyguard wore all black, his dark hair was floofy, and his brown eyes looked kind, in Michael's opinion. He was checking all his boxes, some of which Michael didn't even know he had.

The man noticed him when he walked closer and stood hastily. He stuck out his hand, and Michael stared down until he realized he was offering a handshake. He accepted enthusiastically. "Hello, I'm Alex Manes."

"Michael Guerin." 

"Nice to meet you, Guerin."

Oh, his smile. Michael grinned back helplessly. "You too. You think you can keep me safe?"

"I know I can," he said.

God, his confidence was sexy. Michael was done for. He may have made a noise, but he quickly turned to the door of the security office rather than acknowledge it. "I'll talk to Jenna, then."

Michael shut the door behind him, and Jenna eyed him over the top of a manila folder. "Why didn't you call me to get someone to escort you?"

"Oh, come on, I can get from my room to here without getting murdered."

She made a face. "Call next time. What do you think of him?"

"Where did you find a model qualified to be a bodyguard?" was Michael's first question.

Jenna tossed Alex Manes's file on her desk. "Seriously, you already have the hots for this poor guy? He's retired Air Force, not a model."

He sniffled. "Jenna, that was a man so beautiful I started crying. And he was nice. Can I keep him?"

"That's the idea, Guerin."

"I'm keeping him forever."

"Sure you are. Just try not to chase him off like you did the last twelve, okay?"

"Eleven."

" _Twelve._ I'm counting the previous head of security since he literally put you down as his reason for resigning."

"Okay, fine, and what am I supposed to do to not chase off lucky number thirteen?"

"You could try going to fewer bars, getting into fewer fights, bringing home fewer randos, oh, and don't purposely lose him when you're out."

"Really cramping my style here, Jenna."

"Your style? You're a little shit, Guerin." 

He shrugged. It was true.

"The fact that you're difficult to work with makes finding a bodyguard willing to deal with you a problem. I _want_ you to keep Manes forever. Hell, I'll be happy if you keep him for a full year."

Michael raised his left hand, his right covering his heart. "I promise to try not to chase him off for at least a year."

"Thank you, I appreciate that," she said flatly. "Send him back in."

He nodded and went into the hall, then held the door for Alex. 

"I am so sorry," Jenna started, and Alex's face fell in disappointment. "Guerin likes you, you're hired."

"Oh," he said, baffled, "Why are you sorry?"

"Just a little joke. Guerin tends to come on quite strong. Congratulations, when can you start?" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "And do you want a room in the barracks?"

"Uh, yes, please. I can start whenever."

"All right, how's a week to move in and get settled?"

"Sure. Sorry, do you guys actually call this place the barracks?"

"This wing, yeah. It might be an embassy, but almost everyone calls it the castle. Don't call it that in front of the princess, though." 

"Right."

Jenna unlocked and opened a drawer and gave a pair of keys to Alex. "We'll put you on the end in 106, go ahead and check it out."

He took the keys, but he grimaced at a sudden thought. "Is it, uh, accessible?"

"Everything is ADA compliant, but I know the ADA doesn't cover everything, so if there's anything that would be more helpful to you to have built in, just let me know and I'll kick someone's ass about it."

"All right," he said, relieved. "Thank you."

"It's literally the least we can do, Manes. And tell Guerin to shoo, I don't want him loitering out there. He can grab somebody to escort him."

"Right."

Alex stepped outside the office and hardly had a chance to register him when Michael said, "Hey, Alex, has anyone showed you around yet?"

"No. Do you know where 106 is?"

"It's over there," Michael said, waving his hand helpfully. He jerked his head, and Alex let him lead the way. "You're going to live here?"

"It's free and it really cuts down on the commute, so I might as well." Speaking of things he may as well do, since he was going to be protecting Michael anyway, he thought he should start getting a feel for his behavior. He knocked on his new door but put the keys in his pocket. "Do you want to show me around, Guerin?"

"Yes, I do," he said, and he started off down the hall at a brisk pace. He would have to convince him to slow down -- it wasn't a pace he could keep all day every day. "This is the barracks, the main security offices plus a bunch of the security personnel live here. I think there's a gym in the back because all these people are also beefcakes. Whatever, kitchen!"

Michael threw his arms wide once they entered and was immediately bumped into by a chef with a very large knife. Or he would have been, had Alex not reflexively pulled him away by the back of his shirt. "Careful," he said, smoothing his shirt where he ruffled it. 

Michael gaped at him. "You saved my life."

"You wouldn't have died."

"I am eternally grateful."

"Please don't Toy Story me," he joked. "This is supposed to be a positive experience."

"The kitchen _is_ a positive experience," Michael said brightly, dodging around people more carefully. He stopped at a man toward the back with an oversized frying pan. "Mr. Ortecho!"

"Michael, I am trying to focus," he said without looking up from the pan.

"This man is Arturo Ortecho, and he makes the best food in the world, Alex. He's also Liz's dad."

"Liz?"

"Sister-in-law," Michael explained. 

"Not yet," Arturo said as he took the pan off the heat. "Wedding's in 2020."

"God and Christ, I'd just elope," Michael said. "A whole year. _More_ than a year. Ugh."

Arturo ignored him and offered Alex a smile. "You must be Michael's new guard. Are you hungry?"

"No, thank you, I ate before my interview."

" _I'm_ hungry," Michael said. 

"You're always hungry." Arturo pulled a small tray from a nearby fridge. "Here, Isobel asked if I would make cake pops for Valentine's Day next month, these are what I came up with. Try one. You too, Alex. I need an unbiased opinion."

"Chocolate? Yeah, I love them," Michael said right before he popped an entire tiny cake in his mouth. "I'll tell Iz they're great."

Alex took his more gingerly, but he ended up agreeing with Michael. "Really good. Wow."

Michael snatched two more, and Arturo only shook his head at him. "Thank you, Mr. Ortecho!"

He handed the second to Alex and led the way to the cafeteria just next door. 

"I always just go bother the chefs, I forgot what this room looked like. Huh." He observed the line and the chairs for a moment before he turned back. "So the castle proper. Got regular embassy things on the first floor. If I can't find Isobel in her room, I look here next. I don't have the patience for this stuff, though. And the ballroom she insisted on is over there through the back. Stairs, elevator." 

Michael jabbed the button. Alex thought he was bouncy and maybe didn't pay enough attention to his surroundings, but so far, he didn't seem so difficult. 

"Second floor is labs. Computer, chemistry, and engineering. This is where I spend most of my time." The door opened and Alex saw four burly men around a table playing cards and one right outside the doors. He automatically stood in front of Michael, but he brushed by him and said, "Hey guys! These are Liz's guards. This is Alex Manes."

They nodded or gave him a small smile or wave, and the one just in front of the doors backed down. Alex followed Michael through to the main lab. 

"Liz, meet my new guardian angel," he called. 

The woman at the desk inside shoved her goggles over her head and caught sight of Alex immediately. She smiled warmly. "Welcome. Liz Ortecho."

"Alex Manes."

She turned her head and glanced at Michael, who stood behind Alex and mimed swooning.

Alex followed her gaze, but he straightened up before he saw and smiled sweetly at him instead. "Do you mind if I talk to Liz privately for a minute?"

Alex spread his arms in acquiescence and went back out to introduce himself properly to the other guards. 

"Holy shit," said Liz as soon as the door shut behind him. 

"I know! He's gorgeous. What's that about?" Michael fell into a chair dramatically. 

"Aw, Mikey, are you in love? _Tu lo amaaas_!"

"Shut up, shut up," he said. "Oh my god. I can appreciate a kind, beautiful man, okay?"

"Mmm, yeah, that is a beautiful man all right." She gasped. "You two should be our test parents!"

"God, no, Liz."

"But they'd be so cute! Dark curly hair, those cheekbones, your jawline--"

"I promised Jenna I wouldn't chase him off for at least a year, and frankly I think that is a weird-ass thing that would do it."

"Well, we're still a couple of years off from actually growing fetuses, maybe you two will hook up by then and it won't be weird."

Michael snorted. "I don't even know if he's into dudes. And if by some miracle or head wound he _is_ into me, specifically, it'd still be weird to combine our DNA for test fetuses. Because that's weird. Even I know that's weird."

"Mmhm, whatever you say. Let me get back to catalyzing this. You coming back later?"

"Eventually, I'm showing Alex around for now. I think I'll go back to sleep after. Oh, go see your dad, he has cake pops."

"Already did, already had one."

Scandalized, he asked, "Were you going to tell me about them?"

"I figured you'd sniff them out. Go finish showing your _guardian angel_ around."

"Did I call him that?"

She snapped her goggles back into place. "You sure did. Right in front of his face. See ya later, Mikey."

"See ya."

Alex was standing casually beside the elevator, chatting with the other guard there. Alex patted the man's shoulder when he saw the lab door open. "Ready?" he asked Michael. 

"Yeah." Alex pressed the button, and they got on the elevator. "Next floor is guest suites, mainly for when my parents come to visit, so they're empty for the most part. Then my floor," Michael said as the door opened. "My guards usually meet me up here. I normally don't wake up for a couple more hours but--" He covered up a yawn. "Jenna made me wake up early to meet you."

"Well, thanks for that. She hired me because of you."

"Right. Yeah. So." Michael pressed the button for the seventh floor. "Next up is Isobel, then Max and Liz, then the penthouse, which is misleading 'cause it's not a house. Isobel throws parties up here when she doesn't need the ballroom. Also, sometimes we meet up here, so that's the third place to look."

The royal twins sat at a small table which Michael flung himself in the middle of as Alex watched with concern. "So tired."

His siblings patted his shoulder. "Sorry, bud, you have to operate on normal people hours occasionally," said Max. He shot Alex a sympathetic look.

Michael sat up with a dramatic sigh and pointed to each of them. "Iz, Max, this is Alex Manes."

"Hello."

Isobel leaned on her elbow and fluttered her eyelashes. "Hi there."

Max pinched her arm when Michael pouted at her, but Alex stared blankly at her for a moment before he simply nodded. Then he scanned the room and caught on another pair of people at another table in the corner, both with phones in hand but watching Alex closely. 

"They're ours," Max assured him, waving at them. They focused back down on their phones. "Honestly, Cam and I thought you were the best candidate, so it's good to see that you and Michael get along."

"Thank you," Alex said. "I'll do my best."

"That's what I like to hear," Isobel said, grinning. "Keep him in as few pieces as possible, all right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Michael dropped to the table again with a groan.

"It was nice to meet you, Alex," Max said. He patted his brother on the head. "But I think Michael needs a nap. Else he'll get cranky."

"I'm not a child."

"He says through his arms, like a child," said Isobel. "You should go back to bed if you're tired."

"Ugh, I know."

"When do you start?" Max asked.

"Next week."

"Great." He waved one of the other guards over. "Would you escort Michael to his room real quick please?"

"No, no, I'll go with Alex. Practice run. What do you think?"

"Fine by me."

Once Michael and Alex were in the elevator, Isobel and Max turned seriously to each other.

"He's gonna be Michael's plus one to my wedding," Max said as he wiped away a fake tear.

Isobel shook her head. "They are never going to notice the way they look at each other by then."

"That's not romantic at all."

She shoved at him. "Have you met Michael?"

"He has it in him. Deep, deep, deep down."

"Yeah. Yeah. But if they don't figure it out by the wedding I'm gonna tell them."

Max just laughed. 

**Author's Note:**

> o3o had a thought


End file.
